


Compromised

by cupidsbow, ShaakTisTardis



Series: Role Confusion [2]
Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Anxiety, Character Study, Declarations Of Love, Getting to Know Each Other, Other, Slice of Life, friendship romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-08-29 23:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16753123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cupidsbow/pseuds/cupidsbow, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShaakTisTardis/pseuds/ShaakTisTardis
Summary: Venom learns to want; Venom learns to ask.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second part of a series of stories I have planned about Venom and Eddie getting to know each other. This story stands alone.
> 
> See warnings in the End Notes, plus sources.

Venom had thought that a deeper familiarity with Eddie would help them understand this new world they found themselves in, but so far it was mainly helping them understand how many different ways Eddie could be mystifying and irritating.

Eddie was standing in front of the stove, mid-way through cooking eggs for breakfast, when he suddenly held the spatula up to his mouth and started to warble along with the voices coming from his phone.

“ _You took the words right out of my mouth._ ” He thrust his pelvis forward, and then flipped the eggs with a dramatic flourish that nearly tipped them over the side of the pan.

**_How can you take words out of a mouth?_ **

“ _It must have been while you were kissing meeeeee!_ ”

**_Was it in the woods when we saved you from Drake’s men? I don’t remember any words in your mouth then. What did they taste like?_ **

Eddie burst into laughter.

They didn’t understand what they’d done that was funny. **_Why are you laughing? Stop being a pussy!_ **

Eddie turned the stove off, did a silly step-step-turn and kissed them on the head, which he probably thought would soften their irritation but it didn’t. At all.

Eddie clearly picked up on that thought and smirked at them. The phone’s voices started to repeat, and Eddie suddenly bellowed out, “ _I swear it’s true, I was just about to say I love yooooooou!_ ”

Venom felt a little thrill. Eddie was going to say he loved them?

The toast popped, and Eddie snatched it up and juggled it one-handed onto the waiting plate. “Ah, ah, hot.” He deftly scraped the eggs out onto his toast, and dumped the pan and spatula into the sink.

The eggs must have been very distracting, because Eddie didn’t say he loved them. He just started shovelling food into his mouth.

**_Eddie? I don’t understand._ **

“Sorry, I forget sometimes that you’re new to all this. It’s just a song, buddy. A love song by an old school rock god named Meat Loaf.” Eddie pushed the carton of uncooked eggs towards them. “Eat your breakfast.”

A _song._ They had trouble understanding the memory-show Eddie’s brain flipped through, but Venom had already figured out that music was an audio game that humans played with each other, and singing seemed to be part of the same set of associations. Horrifyingly, Eddie had a memory of a _concert_ with music so loud it had made his hearing tingle and his body thrum, and Eddie had _enjoyed_ it.

Venom crunched down on an egg, imagining that it was a head full of brains instead. **_Humans are weird._ **

“Ain’t that the truth,” Eddie said around a mouthful of his disgusting cooked eggs.

**_Now I know why we never took a permanent Host before._ **

“Oh, zing!” Eddie said, not looking at all insulted.

He was so _irritating._

After breakfast, it was time for their morning shower. Venom had been unconvinced about the idea of willingly being pelted by water at first, but had come around to the idea. While Eddie took off his sleep shorts, Venom adjusted the temperature, and then they stepped under the falling water together.

“Vanilla, candy apple, or gingerbread?” Eddie asked.

**_Gingerbread!_ **

“One tasty symbiote coming right up.” Eddie grabbed the orange bottle and squirted some gel onto his hands. When they’d first tried this, Eddie had used a sponge and soap, and it had made their skin burn and their eyes hurt and they’d thrown the sponge into the toilet. Now Eddie used both hands to make a lather and soothed it over their surface, wiggling his fingers to get into all their nooks and crannies. It made them feel oily and good, and it smelled _sweet_ , as though they were food, but they knew no-one would try to eat them.

“Tentacle,” Eddie said, tapping at one of their anchors. They pulled it out of Eddie’s chest, and replaced it with a limb he’d already cleaned, rotating around until everything had been washed to Eddie’s satisfaction.

Once he’d finished rinsing them off, Eddie blew a noisy kiss onto their surface, making them twitch in pleasure. “Mmmm. Tasty. I could eat you up!”

**_No! Eddie, we are not food!_ **

“Delicious!” Eddie said, pretending to bite one of their tentacles. “The most delicious symbiote on Earth.”

After a brief tussle, they won the tug-of-war and retrieved their tentacle from Eddie’s mouth. **_Your turn._ ** The shampoo bottle was slippery, but they were getting good at holding onto it, and squirted a glob of coconut smelling goo into Eddie’s wet hair. They quickly rubbed up enough foam to make shapes. Today they gave Eddie six tentacles. **_Handsome,_ ** they decided.

Eddie twitched open the shower curtain to catch a look at himself in the mirror. “I think this is your best one yet, buddy. You’re turning into a shower-time Picasso here.”

They lingered over rinsing the suds off Eddie’s skin, letting their limbs curl where they pleased as Eddie washed the bits he was fussy about them touching.

When they stepped out of the shower, they handed Eddie his grey towel before grabbing their own red one. After they’d finished, they held still while Eddie wrapped his towel around them and gave them a final buff. The loops of cotton on the towel sped over their skin like a giant tongue, leaving them warm and happy.

Then came the moment they dreaded.

**_“No!”_ **

“Come on, buddy. No-one likes rat-breath.”

Venom flung the offending toothbrush into the toilet.

Eddie narrowed his eyes, and then pulled out the scrubbing brush he’d bought on their way home last night. “Maybe you can grip this one better.”

Betrayal! Eddie had said the scrubbing brush was for cleaning the sink! He had thought lots of thoughts about mould! Tricksy Eddie!

Eddie held out the brush -- all those stupid bristles -- and kept looking at them expectantly until they reluctantly formed a hand and wrapped it around the handle.

It _was_ easier to hold than the small one.

Eddie picked up the toothpaste, and Venom moved their brush as far away from it as possible.

**_I hate mint._ **

“Yeah, I know, buddy.” Eddie loaded up his own toothbrush, set it on the edge of the sink, and then re-capped the tube. “And the internet has provided a solution.” He took them out to the kitchen and picked up the package he hadn’t let them open this morning. He used a knife to slit open the packing tape and revealed…

**_Chocolate!_ **

“Yep. No mint anywhere in sight. Ready to give this another try now?”

Venom grabbed the tube of toothpaste out of Eddie’s hand and considered the pictures of little chocolate drops that covered its sides. They looked _delicious_.

 **_Fine,_ ** they grumbled.

Eddie took them back into the bathroom, and squeezed a line of chocolate paste onto the scrubbing brush. “There you go.”

Venom tentatively touched the tip of their tongue to the toothpaste. **_Mmmmm._ ** They stuck the brush into their mouth and started chewing the bristles.

“Close enough,” Eddie said, and started cleaning his own teeth with neat strokes of his tiny, minty brush.

Venom watched the foam forming in Eddie’s mouth and the way his tongue moved. It made them feel funny. They wanted to put their tongue inside, but knew it would just taste of _mint_. They turned their gaze to their own reflection, and decided they liked the slide of the bristles into the cracks between their teeth.

Humans were irritating, weird and disgusting, but sometimes they had good ideas.

\--

 **_Rounds today?_ ** They asked hopefully, as Eddie walked over to his shelves and started rummaging around for clothes. Their favourite days were the ones they went on rounds.

“Not today. I have deadlines. I need to get a bunch of writing done, so it’s a day at home.”

Days at home were Venom’s least favourite.

Eddie picked out a grey sweatshirt, just like he always did, and they plucked it out of his hands and threw it across the room. It hit the dead pot plant, which toppled over and smashed, spilling dirt across the floor.

“What the hell was that for?” Eddie said. He had a crease across his forehead and he looked stupid.

**_You always get to pick everything! It’s not fair._ **

Eddie’s brain jumbled around, flashing on images of a small human stomping their foot and a dog chasing its own tail.

 **_Not a dog!_ **They roared, and tipped over the shoe rack. Running shoes tumbled all over the place.

Pinching the bridge of his nose -- which made him look extra stupid -- Eddie took a deep breath and said, “Okay. Why don’t we take it in turns picking what we wear. You pick today, and I’ll pick tomorrow.”

Venom wanted to yell some more, but Eddie was being reasonable which was extremely irritating. **_Fine!_ **

They picked out the bright red sweatshirt that Eddie never wore. He put it on without any objection. Then they picked out the red underpants, which Eddie’s brain pointed out had elastic that didn’t sit right, but Eddie didn’t say anything, just took them and lifted his foot. Venom plucked the pants away from him and threw them into the toilet and picked out the comfortable blue pair. Eddie put them on without comment.

“Thanks,” he said, when they handed him the comfy black sweatpants and some red socks.

**_Whatever._ **

They settled down on the couch, Eddie with his laptop, and Venom in front of the TV. Eddie was immediately caught up in doing some background research, and they flicked the buttons on the remote for a while, watching all the human faces flash past. They finally stopped on a human woman who looked upset-sad-afraid… they weren’t quite sure, but she was listening while an invisible person -- a symbiote? -- voiced their worries that Rhett might not love them anymore, and also might have killed someone called Suzanne.

Eddie glanced over. “Uh… what are you watching there, buddy?”

**_This Host’s symbiote is worried about someone called Rhett. He sounds bad. Maybe they will eat him._ **

Eddie made that strange choking noise he sometimes made. “Okay, well as long as you’re happy.”

After half an hour without the symbiote making an appearance, or anyone at all eating Rhett -- who looked a bit like Eddie, but with hair on his top lip -- Venom was bored. **_Is it lunch time yet?_ **

“No, have one of your snacks.”

Venom went and got some soybeans, and enjoyed crunching on the pods and slurping out the seeds and mashing them into paste before swallowing them. Eddie paid no attention, even though he usually hated it when they ate soybeans that way.

They looked over Eddie’s shoulder. He was reading about someone called London Breed. **_What does this say?_ ** Venom pointed to a bit of the webpage Eddie wasn’t looking at that had a fluffy brown dog on it.

As soon as Eddie looked at it, the words made sense: _Are there really more dogs than children in San Francisco?_

 **_What about this?_ **  They pointed to another image with silhouettes of several different animals, which became _The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals_ once Eddie glanced at it.

“Okay, enough!” Eddie pushed them back towards the TV. “If you want to read when I’m working, you need to learn to read for yourself.”

They retracted all their limbs into their central mass so they were only joined to Eddie by one strand. **_What’s the point of having a Host if they won’t do anything?_ **

“Yeah, your life is so hard. What’s gotten into you today?”

**_Bored, Eddie._ **

“Well that’s tough, because I’m busy. Find something to do.”

Fine! If Eddie was going to be stupid, they would find something to do! They slithered off the couch and poked around the apartment. Dust under the bed -- boring. A dropped M&M that had fallen behind the fridge, probably knocked there the night Eddie first brought some home. They had liked them a lot! They slunk a tendril back there and snagged the chocolate and ate it. They scented the dirt on the floor where the pot plant had fallen over. It was dry and smelled dead. Venom wasn’t going to clean it up! Eddie could do it when he wasn’t being stupid and boring.

The window was cracked open, and they eyed it consideringly. They glanced at Eddie, who was absorbed in his _work._ Slowly and silently, they slithered to the opening, and eased out to dangle over the drop. To the left was their noisy neighbour, the one who played _music_ that made them feel sick when it was too loud. To the right was the edge of the building and then a long stretch of empty brick with no windows. Dropping down a level, they found a closed window and the muffled sounds of two humans mating. Venom turned away. Humans thought about mating all the time. It was irritating.

Skimming along the bricks to the window underneath Loud Neighbour, they peered inside. The apartment appeared empty, and they couldn’t hear any noises. Pressing a tendril to the window, they slid it open far enough to enter, and oozed inside

Chocolate! There on the table in front of the TV!

They rushed over, flipped open the box and sucked up all the tiny pieces. They had weird pink jelly inside that tasted like flowers. Venom rolled the pieces on his tongue for a while, taking in the flavour. Not as good as M&Ms. Still chocolate though.

Once they finished the box, the moved on to explore the rest of the place. There was a picture of a strange human with their mouth open hanging on the wall. Venom thought they might be screaming... or maybe listening to someone scream. A bowl of fruit sat on the counter -- nothing interesting. Some clothes were strewn around, smelling too strongly of a scent that made them sneeze.

A sound came from outside the door, and they paused mid-sniff, debating whether they should leave.

No-one came in. The sound came again -- a soft voice singing, “ _Rub your tummy, just like this. Rub it all day looooong_!”

Venom oozed over to the door, and squeezed his head underneath it. A small human was lying on the floor of the hallway, rubbing a red coloured stick on a piece of paper as she sang.

Something about their movement must have caught her attention, because she looked over and then gasped, immediately slapping both hands over her mouth.

They stared at each other for a while, and then she moved her hands and whispered, “Are you going to eat me, Mr Monster?”

 **_“No,”_ ** Venom said. **_“I’m only allowed to eat bad people. Are you bad?”_ **

She thought about that for a moment, and then said, “No. I’m being good while daddy’s working. He promised if I played out here quietly until he was done he’d buy me _Rat-a-toooey_. That’s my favourite movie.”

**_“Is it about rats? I like rats.”_ **

“A-huh. It’s really good. You should watch it.”

**_“I’ll ask Eddie if we can watch it when he’s finished work.”_ **

The small human smiled at him. “Do you want to help me colour in?”

**_“I don’t know how to do that.”_ **

“It’s easy. You just pick a crayon.” She pushed a packet of coloured sticks towards him. “Red is my favourite, but you can pick any of the others. And then you just colour the picture. See?” She rubbed the crayon on what Venom could now see was a stylised picture of a sheep.

They edged forward and grasped the yellow crayon. It was harder to hold than the small toothbrush had been, but they managed to drag it across the page.

“Inside the lines! That’s the rules.”

**_“Humans have rules for everything!”_ **

The small human sighed. “I know. Being grown up is copliated.”

**_“You are a very wise human.”_ **

She nodded at that, as though it were her due, and announced, “My name is Bella. You write it like this.” With her red crayon, she carefully drew a series of shapes. “See?”

Venom looked at the uneven shapes on the page, and then confessed, **_“I can’t read.”_ **

“Oh. Well, I can show you.” Bella put her finger on the first shape. “This is a  _bee._ Then _eeee_. Then _el, el, ayyy_. Bella! That’s all I can write so far.”

**_Is it hard to learn?_ **

Bella nodded. “It’s real hard, but daddy is real proud of me.”

Venom felt a strange tingle in his crop at the thought of Eddie being proud of him.

They coloured again for a bit, and Venom mostly managed to get the yellow crayon’s colour into the ball in the sky that Bella informed him was the sun.

“What’s your name?” she asked, her tongue sticking out of her mouth in concentration.

**_“Venom.”_ **

“That’s a cool name. Will you be my friend?”

Venom wasn’t sure about the rules of being friends with someone. He had a feeling Eddie might not approve. But Bella was looking at him with big, hopeful eyes. **_“Okay.”_ **

“Yay! Do you want an M&M?” She pulled a crumpled packet out of her pocket. She looked at their open mouth and held up a finger. “Just one!”

She dropped a red one onto their tongue, and it was a little bit melted and had an aftertaste of crayon. Venom let it dissolve slowly.

\--

When they returned home, they found Eddie still typing at the computer. They eased up to him and nudged his arm. **_Lunch time?_ **

Eddie stopped typing and looked at the time. “Wow, yes it is. Thanks for being so quiet, buddy. I’ve got a bunch done.” He stood up and stretched. “Maybe I need to get a desk. I feel all kinked up.”

 **_Hmmm._ **Venom said, casting a guilty glance at the window, plasma aching slightly from having stretched so far for so long.

“Just getting old, I guess.” Eddie walked over to the fridge and started pulling out lunch fixings. “I had the oddest craving for Turkish Delight a while ago too. I haven’t had that in years.” His mental slideshow flipped to an image of jelly-coated chocolates and Venom shut their mouth and sucked their teeth to make sure there was no chocolate left. Then they nibbled on a soybean, just to be safe.

 **_Eddie?_ **They ventured, coiling around him affectionately as he got out the cutting board and a sharp knife.

“Yes, buddy?”

**_Sorry I was annoying._ **

“Yeah? I’m sorry too. I was impatient with you because I was feeling stressed about getting these articles done in time. We’re not exactly out of the woods yet, money-wise. I shouldn’t have snapped at you, though.” Eddie chopped off the top and tail of a salami, tossing them into Venom’s waiting mouth, and started to peel it. “Do you know why you were so upset?”

Venom had been thinking about that. **_Stupid song. You laughed at me._ **

Eddie looked up from slicing the salami. “That made you feel bad?”

**_I’m learning human things as fast as I can!_ **

Eddie nodded. “And I made fun of you not knowing things. I’m a giant dick.”

**_Yes. And also a pussy._ **

“A dick and a pussy,” Eddie said solemnly. There was a breathless quality to his thoughts, as though he was trying very hard to suppress something. He carefully scraped the cut salami onto the serving plate.

**_You’re doing it again!_ **

Eddie put down the knife and cupped their face with both hands, looking deep into their eyes. He was warm and smelled of food, and now they could feel Eddie’s amusement let loose and thrumming all the way through them. “I really can’t help it, sweetheart. You’re hilarious. But I love that about you, okay. It’s one of the things I love most about you.”

Venom dissolved into Eddie’s body and curled up near his spleen, ignoring Eddie calling his name.

A while later, they cautiously poked out again. Eddie had finished cutting up the food and was about to eat a piece of Venom’s smelly cheese.

Eddie immediately offered them the cheese, as though he’d known it would draw them out. “You okay?”

They ate the cheese, but didn’t meet Eddie’s gaze.

“I take it that’s a no.” Sad feelings started to seep into Eddie’s blood. “Do you not want--”

**_Say it again._ **

“I love you,” Eddie said. 

Venom dissolved back into a ball around his spleen.

\--

While Eddie was elbows deep in washing the dishes, they crept out.  ** _I love you better than chocolate,_ ** they whispered into his ear.

“I know, sweetheart,” Eddie said. "I'm really glad you could tell me, though."

\--

Later that night, as they were curled up on the couch watching _Ratatouille_ , which had a lot less head-chomping in it than Venom had hoped for, they said, **_Eddie? How do I learn how to read?_ **

Eddie paused in stroking their crop. “You’ve changed your mind?”

 **_Maybe._ ** Venom opened their eyes very wide and looked hopeful. **_If I learn how to read, will you buy me an iPhone?_ **

“Oh, I see how it is!” Eddie laughed at them, and it made a happy tremor snake all the way through their plasma. “Why do you want an iPhone, sweetheart?”

**_To read stuff._ **

“A-huh.” Eddie kissed them right between the eyes. “You’re a terrible liar, but I admire your chutzpah. So yes, if you learn to read, I’ll buy you your own phone.”

Feeling immensely satisfied with themself, they went back to watching the movie. Except… **_All these rats are making me hungry, Eddie._**

"That's what you get when you skip lunch," Eddie said, sounding unsympathetic.

But then he got up and turned on the oven for Tater Tots.


	2. Compromised art, by ShaakTisTardis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ShaakTisTardis made amazing art for this chapter of Role Confusion!

There are three pictures -- Eddie making breakfast, Venom cleaning their teeth, and Venom and Bella playing. 

You can find them here: <https://shaaktistardis.tumblr.com/post/180976554410/here-are-some-scribbles-for-compromised-by>

**Author's Note:**

> There is implied prostitution, and a passing reference to eating people and animals.
> 
> Eddie sings Meat Loaf's "You took the words right out of my mouth."
> 
> Bella sings Sesame Street's "Rub your tummy."


End file.
